In a letter to the editor to be published in tomorrow's Daily Evergreen, T.V. Reed and Christopher Lupke lash out at Russell Hall, who wrote a letter to the editor last week calling PARD on their tactics, and demand an apology from him.
They say that PARD has "nothing to hide." Interesting. Then why have they not addressed the serious allegations of lying leveled at them by Jerry Griebling, owner of Jerry's Auto Repair?
Fraud in the obtaining of signatures to be used in a SEPA comment, which is then part of public record and can be used as evidence in appeal hearings, is a serious matter.
Why not write a letter addressing that issue instead? Talk about defamatory. Go ahead Tim. Strike out at the local businesses you say you are "defending." It seems PARD's "above-it-all" veneer is starting to crack just a bit and the community will soon see what they are all about.
If PARD has nothing to hide, why are all their minutes after January 27 password protected. And why did they stop publishing minutes at all after May 19?
And if a majority of Pullman residents support PARD, why did PARD restrict access to their discussion board after Wal-Mart supporters started posting there? These are not the actions of a bold majority, but of a paranoid and insular minority.
Of course, Tim himself admitted over the summer in a op-ed for the Daily News that no one knew if a majority opposed or supported Wal-Mart. That was the truest thing he has said to date. PARD is just much happier pretending everyone agrees with them
I find it deeply inappropriate that a high-ranking faculty member is this deeply involved in this issue. I urge the "vocal minority who favor this boondoggle", as they so "respectfully" put it, to contact WSU President Lane Rawlins and share your opinion with him.
It's time for the pages of the Daily News and Evergreen to start flowing with pro-Wal-Mart letters. These arrogant radicals need to see just what kind of "minority" they are dealing with.
6 comments:
Some interesting points to consider from Reed and Lupke's opus:
1. Despite claiming PARD "has nothing to hide", they STILL did not give the exact numbers of Pullman residents on the petition, stating cryptically as they always do, how the number of Pullman resident signatures is 3 times more than the number of people who voted in "the last city election". Which one? If they are refrerring to our recent primary, then that isn't very much. But I think they are referring to the 2003 election, in which case they have around 6,000 Pullman resident signatures. Why compare it to the last citywide election? How is that significant? Are all the Pullman petition signatures even registered to vote in Pullman? It's apples and oranges. How about this comparison instead? It is 30 times the number of votes Judy Krueger received in the primary.
2. They say students, who make up 75% of Pullman's population, are underrepresented on the petition. How do they know that? 50% of students live off campus. You can't tell is someone is a student just by looking at the address. And I didn't see a block on the petition to indicate if you were a student or not. The numbers of students, I suspect, are quite high. Again, a completely fatuous argument.
3. They claim the petition is a public document that can be accessed through City Hall. Really? Does PARD take the petition back to City Hall for safekeeping after every event at which they collect signatures, such as the National Lentil Festival? I don't think so. Obviously they mean the petition that was submitted on May 23 with 7,500 signatures, not the current one with 10,000 signatures. Another disingenuous comment.
4. They mention that Wal-Mart is a corporation with a record of bleeding towns dry. No, the only thing in Pullman that has a proven record of bleeding us dry is Moscow. PARD is fighting tooth and nail to keep that little monopolistic arrangement in place. Gee, thanks, Tim and Chris. Maybe the Moscow Chamber of Commerce will have an award for you next year.
Tom, these are all excellent points. I hope Russell Hall sees some of your comments. Though it seems like if he responds to their letter he could be getting into a petty war, which is down on their level. I felt their letter didn't really answer anything, just through out more dribble.
Sorry, I meant threw.
SHW #1, that is a very good point. There can be no debating with a zealot like Reed. His letter was just more posturing, prevarication, and propaganda (I loved the recruiting pitch).
However, we should never let them throw stuff like this out there without applying the light of truth to it. They do this often enough that people start to believe it.
The bottom line is, PARD will never provide solid numbers on their precious petition, and until they do so, they will have to deal with questions like this.
PARD's arguments are as ethereal and filmy as pixie wings. They will melt under the harsh heat of the hearing examiner. It has to be our task however, to fight the PR battle in the meantime.
PARD is about a bunch of self appointed morons who find power in stopping other people. They will never start a park, a school, a fund raising event. They are against everything and have no community leadership. This is the group that would rather tell us all that we can't make something happen rather than find a way to make it happen. PARD is the non-givers, judgemental, society. Why should we give them any notice?
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